


Charmed

by Hudstrige1



Category: Andi Mack - Fandom
Genre: Also COMMENT UR FUCKIN THOUGHTS COZ YALL ARE ALL KUDOS’ AND NO REAL WORDS, Anyways, Insanely shook Jonah, I’m really not in the mood to get shit for writing about horny teenagers being horny, Jock!Cyrus, M/M, They make out??, Wattpad is fuckin SHAKING, and like there’s tension but it’s nothing earth shattering, cyrus is such a flirt it makes me SWEAT, horny teenagers are horny shocking I know, jyrus - Freeform, jyrus owns my heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-01 08:08:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16280801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hudstrige1/pseuds/Hudstrige1
Summary: The moment Jonah meets Cyrus, it finally starts to feel like a vacation.





	1. Particularly Peculiar

**Author's Note:**

> Hi so this is lame as fuck but it makes me quake?? Cyrus is so witty it makes me wanna puke and I hope someone gets as many butterflies out of this as I do.

Leave it to Jonah Beck's parents to take him out of school the week school needs him most.

He knows eighth grade doesn't exactly match up to junior year, or whatnot, but two tests, a quiz, one lengthy lab report, and fifty four pages of small print reading due this upcoming week is a lot-especially since he's not there in person to prepare. He would think that since getting this stuff done brings him peace, and since a vacation is supposed to be about relaxing, studying would have been his main activity.

Except it _hasn't_ been, and because his parents made him and the other siblings walk all around the city for four out of their six days here, it's why Jonah sits here on this Friday night at the bar of the hotel they've been staying at, studying in the environment of the Friday night Halloween party he was forced to go to. With how much his parents kept insisting this on being a 'family activity', Jonah would think they'd be somewhere around. Maybe they've actually respected his wishes and left him be to study. He can only learn so much with all the noise.

The excessive talking is drowning out the mellow playing of the piano, and the mellow playing of the piano is drowning out what's left of his _brain._ He's gonna need more than a few chugs of Coca Cola if he wants to really get cracking. He would undoubtedly sneak back up to their hotel room, if his Mom didn't have the key card with her.

 _God,_ he should have brought his earbuds.

 _Focus_. He needs to _focus_. Just _keep_ reading over these flash cards, and-

There's an obnoxious yelp, then a low sounding curse. That curse coming from his own mouth.

" _Shit_." His flinching knocks over the tall, half filled glass, the liquid and fizz pouring out on what's supposed to be his main priority.

" _God—dammit."_ He adjusts the cup back onto the counter top and wants to cry at the pen ink that bleeds through the napkins he made the mistake of smudging against the cards.

"That should be some kind of sign, right?"

Jonah almost jumps again, and looks to the voice belonging to the kid three empty stools down from him.

He's pretty furious at himself for not getting a look at him until now because _God_ is he cute. He'a certainly too good for some lame costume party set to elegant piano music two weeks before Halloween even takes place.

"What do you mean..." He tries not to smile too big.

"It's Friday night. You're at a hotel. Just 'cause the bartender won't give you a shot doesn't mean you're not allowed to have fun. Not even a costume?"

Jonah blushes when he sees the boy's eyes are now directly scanning his outfit. He does the same to his, and he has _no_ idea what it's supposed to be. Some weird alien, army, mutant camo theme. Just a guess. He's a bit too intimidated to ask.

"I've been here all week and I've been subjected to hours of sight seeing. I  _gotta_ get this stuff done." This time maybe he smiles a little more than needed, but the kid appreciates it so much that he smiles and back and slides down into the seat next to him.

At this point Jonah's heart is fucking rattling.

"You need help with that?" The stranger reads over his material.

"The spill? Oh, no, I-I'm fine."

"The homework." He points to it, and Jonah wants to cry all over again from how stupid he feels.

"Maybe I could help you get this shit done a bit faster."

Jonah laughs. "I'm gonna need a name first."

"Cyrus. Got my fake ID right here if you need proof. I'm kidding." He sees the look on Jonah's face, and loves watching his expressionshift into embarrassed but relieved realization.

"You really have one?" He could never dream of it, and meeting kids' with more amount of edge that he could ever think of having is always interesting.

"I used one over the summer to get into this bar to see this one band perform. Still somewhere in my dresser drawer. Should probably clean it out before my Mom does that herself." He talks so breezily, and Jonah can't tell if he's laughing because he's nervous or impressed. He decides on both.

"Uh, I'm Jonah, by the way." It's almost like he forgot to speak, and just from hearing that, Cyrus is a thousand more times drawn to him.

"You make these yourself?" Keeping bold eye contact, Cyrus points down the scattered cards laid upon the surface.

"Y-yeah, but, they're just definitions so it's not like it's anything original..." Jonah wishes he was impressive like him.

The small "hm" Cyrus lets out when scanning his eyes across the cards turns Jonah red, and Cyrus' finger glide across one of the few that's still damp and smells of cola.

"'Oxidize'" he reads aloud, giving Jonah no fair warning when he decides to look back up to him.

"'To undergo or cause to undergo a reaction in which electrons are lost to another species.'"

Cyrus either is really keeping steady eye contact or Jonah's gone woozy.

"Think you can remember that...?" Cyrus' tone is borderline flirtatious, and the tension is turning Jonah hazy.

He can barely sound a laugh.

"You taking the ACT or something?" Cyrus holds out a grin, Jonah nervously reach for the nearest pen in arm's reach as he laughs. He gives it a few clicks, and Cyrus gazes down to the fist it's held in.

His eyes aren't moving back up, and Jonah has to clear his throat before answering-something he should have done probably eight seconds ago.

"It's, uh, Chemistry vocab." But Jonah figures he already knew that. He wonders how noticeable the stupid glow on his face is, and not just to Cyrus. It's not every day when cute boy's in hotel bars want to talk to him.

"Smart, huh?" Cyrus compliments, and Jonah laughs at how he would think such a thing.

"Kinda..."

Cyrus studies him during the next few seconds before continuing.

"So this music is pretty bullshit, huh? I was expecting the monster mash. Not this—Mozart Claire de lune stuff being blocked out by a bunch of drunks."

If there's anything Cyrus wants to do tonight, it's to brighten Jonah's mood, and God is he glad to see it truly unfold. 

"I could honestly probably use a drink myself. That _isn't_ a soda." Jonah admits.

"Your family here? Just take a sip out of whatever they're havin'."

"Nah, they'd notice..." The thought some gives him anxiety, and for a few seconds he breaks eye contact.

"It's not really something I'd wanna do alone."

"Well you aren't alone right now," Cyrus suggests, and Jonah breaks into genuine laughter that still has a nervous undertone.

"I'll see how I feel by the end of the night..." Jonah turns his tone sly, and now Cyrus' teeth are running down the right side of his cheek.

"So you've been here all week?" He brings up.

"Oh." Jonah scoffs, nodding his head and shyly grinning. "Yeah. My parents, they uh, think I need a vacation."

"Seems like you _do._ I mean, the _least_ you can do is order a Shirley temple." Cyrus has Jonah cracking up again, and he observes each second of it with an awed smile across his face.

"You from around here?" He's praying it's so.

"Yeah, I'm like, one train ride away from the city. Not far. I go to uh, Jefferson Academy."

Cyrus' eyes shine. "Damn, _see,_ I knew you were smarter than half the people here-"

Jonah's laughing at just how ridiculous that line is, but to deny he's red all over would be a pretty big lie.

"Oh, n-no i-it was more of a raffle thing. I didn't have to apply to get in or anything..."

" _Hm._ " Cyrus can tell Jonah's only as secure as he’ll let himself be, and Jonah can't get over the way he's looking at him.

"I go to Grant."

"That's where I would be going next year if I never got picked." Smile glued to his face, Jonah can't even tell or not if he's sweating. Nor can he feel the pen that may or may not still be clutched in his hand.

"Well if I saw you around I would've been talking to you a long _time_ ago."

Jonah does not want to believe that. He's started to dreamily giggle, as if he already wasn't in enough of a trance from Cyrus' weird hippie dippy voodoo magic spell.

It's not every day that cute boy's slide down next to him in bars and openly _flirt_ with him.

Is this _real?_ Cyrus is personally asking himself the same thing. This isn't exactly his forte, despite Jonah being one hundred percent convinced that is it.

"Cyrus!" A family member of his calls to him, and this couldn't be the more terrible timing. Jonah grows somehow more drawn to him when he rolls his eyes.

"See? Told you that’s my real name. I'll be right back. I'm here for the weekend with family. Bartender." He gets the attention of the underpaid man who's been disconnected from the scene all night; Jonah's pupils shrinking when he reaches into his pocket and slams down five dollars. "Get him a Shirley temple."

Jonah can hardly make eye contact with the man as Cyrus gets up and makes his distance.

"You always have boys' buying you drinks, son?"

"N-no sir..."

This is truly the craziest thing that's ever happened to him in his unfairly underwhelming life.

Maybe now it's no longer so underwhelming.

 

And _this_ is exactly why Jonah preferred to stay seated for the entirety of the night. This tight knit crowd is excruciating, and the Shirley temple he worries what Cyrus left him to remember him by is only so relieving.

He wishes the piano was easier to hear, even if what's being played is pretty unexciting for what's supposed to be a party. He takes another short lived sip, removing his lips from the straw and searching for him once more. It's been over five minutes since he last saw him. He's not being clingy, right? The _least_ he can do is pay him back for the drink. There. There's his excuse.

" _Rah!_ "

Jonah almost screams at the noise alone, and looks borderline terrified at the mutant alien thing mask Cyrus is taking off his face with a big prideful smile.

Jonah sighs with a shake of his head and smile of his own, admittedly more than happy that he's still here, no matter how he decided to present himself.

"I scare you?"

"I think I was more scared when I thought you left," he admits, and Cyrus couldn't have been caught more off guard. It's like Jonah's turned the tables on him.

"You think I'd leave without getting your number?" He asks, and Jonah almost drops the drink to the floor.

"Y-you're good at that, you know that..."

His laughter quietly nervous and finger pointing over to him, Jonah has to give him credit where it's due.

Cyrus wants to get him out of here right here right now-or better yet just make a move right here to make a statement; if all the straight couples here can publicly jam their tongues down their throat he sure as hell can sneak one kiss-but he knows for Jonah this must be super unfamiliar. The only thing unfamiliar about it for Cyrus is just how much he wants to get to know him, rather than to share something short sweet and to the point. Since when does _that_ happen?

It's almost as scary for him as it is for Jonah.

Not that Jonah would ever guess.

"What are you supposed to be?" He smiles.

"You've never seen the Predator movies?? With the alien?"

"No I-I'm not very up to date on movies these days."

"I'll have to catch you up, then." Cyrus wants to assist, and Jonah almost flinches at the offer.

"O-okay..."

Cyrus' grin stops him from being so tense.

"Uh, thanks for the drink, by the way. I'll pay you back."

"I'll make sure you won't."

"Well the least I can do is get _you_ something." Cyrus chuckles. "If you're not gonna finish that whole thing yourself, I could always ask for another straw-"

They're giggling immensely at each other in complete and utter admiration. Jonah fears if he questions this the universe will get mad and snatch it away from him. He just needs to go with it.

"You have any requests for the piano man over there?" Cyrus points to the piano being played at no more than a ten foot distance.

Jonah giggles. "You think he sings?"

"Doubt it. He would have been by now if he did. Do you play?"

"Piano?"

"Anything. You're super smart, remember?" Cyrus brings up, and Jonah shakes his head with another smile.

"I'm uh, more of a singer, actually." He can't believe he's actually admitting this, and for Cyrus this is fucking gold.

" _Really._ Holy _shit._ You a choir boy?"

"No,"

"No?" He's teasing, and the laughter is more gleeful than ever.

"Hey, Elton, play something this guy can sing to!" Cyrus yells to the pianist, and Jonah guffaws in the midst of his shushing.

"He's kidding..." He makes sure the guy knows, looking in his direction, unable to believe just how much Cyrus feels to be staring him down. He's almost scared to resume looking at him.

"How 'bout this," Cyrus presents, and he has Jonah's full attention.

He has to prepare to respond.

"Since I got you the drink, you have to sing for me by the end of the end of the night." His smile is completely captivating, and at first Jonah thinks he couldn't be any less serious.

"Oh do I." He's still in the midst of laughter.

"Yes." His smile has only grown, and Jonah disapproves in a light shake of his head. His heart drops and his palms sweat but it's too late to close his mouth.

"What if I don't?"

The moment he receives another one of those looks, Jonah second guesses everything he’s ever known.

 

Cyrus can't get him in there fast enough, the two of them kissing each other as if their lives depend on it before he can even fully close the door.

The moment that happens he grabs right onto Jonah's shoulders and sends them deeper into the largely sized closet, almost tripping them both over rows of people's jackets along the wooden floor. Jonah giggles as they regain their balance, and Cyrus has never felt more content doing this with someone than when doing this with him. All he‘s aware of his him.

" _I,_ " he whispers after discontenting their lips, but not continuing without a quick peck. "Was _sooo_ fucking nervous to talk to you."

Jonah can't believe it, uncontrollably laughing from the insanely high amount of adrenaline he feels he'll never come down from.

" _Shhhhh..."_ Cyrus sounds to him with closed eyes, shutting him up with another kiss and declaring Jonah's humming as music to his ears. Neither of them can barely still breathe but that's okay. _More_ than okay.

Jonah _can't_ mess this up. Cyrus has clearly done this before and he doesn't want his complete lack of experience to be the most obvious thing about him.

It almost feels like Cyrus is kissing all the oxygen out of him. Not that would be a bad way to go out.

All he has to do is keep cooperating and make sure his hums don't sound like moans. They don't, right? That would be totally perverted. He _can't_ come off as _that._ He has morals. They're _definitely_ starting to sound like that when Cyrus has the nerve to shove him up against the back wall, and now Jonah really feels like he's losing air. He almost can't take it when Cyrus presses his entire body up against his and he knows a large part of him is enjoying it. The moans turn into pressured cries, and full fledged tears make their way past Jonah's eyes from the more than overwhelming pressure he can feel everywhere throughout.

He has no choice but to break them apart and step himself away, doing his best to control the hyperventilation and looking nowhere but down below with eyes that continue to cry and turn him more humiliated.

"Fuck. _Fuck_ I'm sorry..." All Cyrus wants is for Jonah to look at him.

"No." Jonah almost laughs out of humiliation.

He brings himself to look at him.

"It-it's _not_ you, at all-I've _never_ done this before." He wipes a few tears and smiles weakly.

"Coulda fooled me," Cyrus says, and he's glad to hear him genuinely laughing,

"I-I'm _sorry_ you must think I'm so-"

"Hey. Hey look at me." Cyrus doesn't want to hear Jonah finish that sentence, taking both his hands and making sure he's directly looking at him.

"I shouldn't have—attacked you into some random coat closet." He scoffs. "If I had it my way, and if I _really_ had it my way-"

Hearing that makes Jonah’s head spin.

"I would've taken you out on some _really_ lame date-"

Jonah can't believe what he's hearing. He can't be serious.

His wide ranged smile encourages Cyrus to continue.

"And I would've kissed you _way_ earlier than I probably should've-"

This makes them laugh.

"But it would've been _really_ passionate and maybe kinda hot-"

Jonah just barely holds himself together in time for Cyrus to slowly bring him in by bringing his chin forward with a touch of his finger, and the demonstration a pretty remarkable feeling for the both of them.

When it's over Jonah still feels tingling on his lips and the stutter of his heart. He wants to melt.

"So will I be seeing you back home?" Cyrus begins to smirk.

"Yeah? You wanna?" Jonah's still struggling to process this, and he's honestly overjoyed. "W-we can go somewhere," he suggests.

"I still take you out?"

Cyrus never thought he could be so into someone, and that it was possible for the said someone to actually return the feeling.

"It's a date."

Indeed it is.

 

With how much their families made them participate in, they'd think that maybe they'd be able to pass by each other in the lobby, or maybe eat at the same city local restaurant. But nope.

They were each staying on entirely different floors, and _God forbid_ they could even meet up again in person for five minutes.

That's where the beauty of texting came in, especially during the last two mornings there. They didn't even check out of their rooms at the same time.

Jonah texted him the entire train ride home, hoping his family weren't noticing too much of his actions. Early in it was pretty easy to tell who he was texting wasn't someone he saw as just a friend.

He snapped at his little sister when she was this close to peeping, and with how apologetic he grew when his phone was threatened to be taken off his hands you'd think they had just threatened to kick him out of their home.

His parents certainly aren’t not wrong about this person being a crush, but what they _could_ be more wrong about is this crush not being a he.

Sometimes, they choose to forget that their son's sexuality includes both boys and girls.

 

With the burden of having to return to school after a whole five days off under his wing, Jonah doesn't think he could have actually made it to the property without Cyrus being there on the phone with him.

"Turn the camera around. I want to see what your fancy smanchy private school looks like." Cyrus is currently standing outside of homeroom, knowing it's not worth it go in yet when the teacher still hasn't arrived.

"Psh. It's a charter school and it's nothing amazing."

He stands on the patches of grass just past the lot, wanting to distance himself from the front entrance until it's mandatory to go in,

"Mm, whatever you say. I gonna be seeing you this Friday?"

They had the honor of finding out they actually don't live too far from each other, and they'll be absolutely _damned_ if they're not going to see each other again.

Cyrus figured that the Friday night carnival that's about the same distance from their houses would is the perfect location or the 'lame date' he’s more than volunteering to take him on.

" _Yeah._ Of course." Jonah couldn't be more flattered, and Cyrus can't hold back his smile.

"Cool. I'm uh, just telling my Mom I'm meeting up with kids from class."

"Yeah, me too."

Jonah sure hopes she'll believe it. He's been here for about six weeks and he's pretty sure most of his 'friends' fall more under the category of acquaintances.

"Sweet."

"Mr. Goodman, are you going to be joining us for class today?" His teacher asks him as she passes him by inside the classroom.

"Yes ma'am."

Jonah grins to him from ear to ear, and because of that Cyrus deems that encounter as necessary.

"I gotta go. I'll talk to you later."

"'Kay. Pay attention." Jonah smirks, making him giggle.

"You look good. Knock 'em dead."

"We’ll see," Jonah teases, and they're still giggling after their goodbyes.

Jonah walks down the lawn and up to the school's entrance feeling pretty, pretty content, that is until he hears his voice being called out by the one person he was surely more than glad to have a week away from.

Since this is a charter school rather than traditional public school, grades range from Kindergarten to twelfth grade, and one of bitchy ninth grader Derek's favorite past times as of recent been making Jonah his target.

"Where were you, huh?" He walks up behind him with the two friends of his that have no problem helping him out, and Jonah just knows to stay still with his back turned and earbuds in.

"Conversation camp? Therapy? _Both?"_

"What'd, they shock you of your hearing?" The kid to his right comments.

Jonah turns around and faces them with a scowl.

"Your voice?"

" _No."_

"Holy shit, it speaks!" Derek turns sarcastically cheerful, and Jonah grimaces at looks away from their laughter. He's shoved forward to the ground after taking two steps away from them, which only draws what Jonah sees as unneeded attention.

Picking up his phone that's without a scratch, he makes his way back up with not even a glance in their direction. It's what they want but not what they're gonna get.

That is until Derek swipes his phone away from him.

" _Give it back."_ He boldly spins around in his direction.

"Why _should_ I? It's not like you have anyone to _get back to-“_

Jonah responds by smacking it fresh out of his hold, the other kids' all erupting in noise when it lands against the concrete.

"Alright, enough!" Moving past the crowd of students, one teacher interferes before either of them can grab the device.

" _Enough._ Get to class. All of you."

The crowd immediately begins to separate, and Jonah swipes back up the phone the moment Derek turns his back.

When hurrying up the steps and into the entrance he eerily still feels more than a fews eyes observing him.

His hood is pulled up over his head on the way to the halls.

 

For lunch, he just assumed he would be sitting alone and texting Cyrus while he ate, but to his surprise, three girls from chemistry class he's somewhat acquainted himself with are hounding him to sit at their table.

He approaches them with obvious hesitance, which makes them sneer and encourage him forward.

"Hey..." He timidly greets, sitting across from them trying to keep his eyes from luring down to his phone.

"You're Jonah right?" The one directly across from him asks. The one whose safety goggles bring out her hair.

"Yeah." He forges a small smile.

"I'm Buffy, that's Iris," she points to her right. "And that's Andi." She finishes.

"Right, weren't you the one that helped me with the lab that one week?" Pointing over to her, the memory discreetly flashes in his mind.

"Yeah." She smiles and nods, almost too nervous to say anything else, and Iris swoops in with the whole reason they finally decided to really interact with him.

"We thought it was _super_ cool how you stood up to Derek earlier."

"Oh, I, wouldn't say I exactly ' _stood up'_ to him..." Jonah's face heats up, and the girls are quick to insist otherwise.

He doesn't know how else to respond besides chuckling softly.

He's not someone like Cyrus who can _easily_ carry a conversation. He's so submissive when it comes to talking with people; he personally finds it astoundingly ridiculous.

As he shyly observes the girls’ interactions with one another, he doesn't know what he wishes for more: to be able to join in, or for the one person he dares to ever fully interact with to reach out to him.

The only reason he can think _why_ he isn't saying anything is because he's too busy having no problem _actually_ socializing with people who enjoy his company.

Jonah would _love_ to be there with him, even if it meant interacting with the handful of friends he's _sure_ he has.

Hell, he wouldn't be surprised if the reason Cyrus isn’t texting him is because he's already left his mind. He guarantees Cyrus has many other people he'd truly rather talk to.

 

"Cyrus, can you stop checking your phone and maybe interact with us?"

Instead of actually engaging in dialogue with the three friends of his that sit right across from him, he anxiously distracts himself from the possibility that Jonah’s never going to get back to him by playing games on his phone.

"I'm focusing..." They're lucky he's even responding with that deadpan tone of his his.

“We _know_ that. Get off Tinder before we take your phone away." One humors him, bringing a tiny smile to his face that grows the moment Jonah's name appears  at  the top of his screen.

**Miss you.**

"Your hookup of the week finally get back to you?"

They're plenty entertained by just how fast his thumbs have begun to take over the keyboard.

" _Ha-ha. No."_ There's finally some emotion in his voice, distractedly trying to figure out just what to text back.

**Missing you too how's your fancy school lunch?**

"We still gonna hang out in Marty's basement this weekend?"

He's not even listening to the snickers they sound at the sight of his expanding smile.

"Not on Friday I'm doing something." It couldn't be more obvious that something's occurring.

"Something, or _someone?"_

Cyrus is more than capable of flipping them off with one hand and and sending Jonah another text with the other. 

**This is gonna be the slowest week of my fucking life.**

Just when he wants nothing more than to respond to both of these right away, Jonah is actually pretty sure someone just might be _actually_ trying to talk to him.

"What?" He looks to Iris.

"I said where were you last week? Chemistry felt weird without you." The others giggle at what she says, and Jonah hopes another smile will do.

"Oh, uh, my _parents—_ pulled me out for this thing..." He plays it off as no big deal, wanting nothing more than to respond but not wanting to come off as disinterested.

"Do you know what you're doing this weekend?" Buffy wonders, and Jonah's glad to actually have a fulfilling answer.

"Yeah, actually, I'm going to this Halloween thing on Friday."

A 'Halloween thing' that he can't get out of wearing a costume to this time.

They're acting so intrigued towards him it almost feels odd. That is until they go back to discussing topics among themselves, which leaves Jonah in the clear to finally text Cyrus back.

It hasn't even been ten minutes since he's sat down. Cyrus currently believes time is cursed, and Jonah frankly couldn't agree more.

**Believe me. Mine too.**

Friday can't come soon enough.


	2. Take Me Out:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To be fair, they’re both incredibly new at this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3333333

This morning, Jonah almost scared himself awake remembering how today is finally Friday. The night of the carnival. The night he's going to see Cyrus again after what feels like five hundred days instead of only five.

After school-where no amount of run ins with the overly friendly Chemistry girls or ugly encounters with Derek could bring him down-he made his Mom drag him and his two sisters to Walmart where he subjected them to almost a full hour of him overthinking every Halloween costume he took into mere consideration.

He thought about texting Cyrus for feedback, but ended up deciding how he wants the outfit to be a surprise. Not a scary surprise, and certainly not a secondhand embarrassment type of surprise.

By the end of the hour, Jonah finally decided on a ninja. And a mummy. He convinced his Mom to get both, and it's twenty minutes before he's supposed to be meeting him when he's still yet to decide between the two options. "Which one would look less lame?" He holds up both outfits the moment his younger sister Kelsey walks into his room.

"You already asked me that."

"Seriously? Just say one." He's resorted to seeking fashion advice from a nine year-old.

"Why does it matter?"

"Never mind just get out—"

" _Mom-!"_

 _"Alright!"_ He steps over and shuts the door.

"What's wrong? Are you nervous about getting scared?"

"I think I already am..."

"Why? Those kids wouldn't of invited you if they didn't think you were cool." This is the story his family's under the impression of.

"That's the thing, though. I wasn't really invited by other kids. I'm only seeing one other person..." It almost embarrasses him to say, which has Kelsey more than eager to put two and two together.

"Is _that_ why you're so freaked? Is it a date?"

The redness all across his face is already a dead giveaway.

"Maybe..." But he knows it is. "Yes..." He knows at this point not to bullshit her. Those intimating expressions she nails him with can get pretty easy to crack under.

"With who?"

" _Don't_ tell Mom and Dad okay, but..." He still feels the need to lower his voice. "He’s a boy."

"I thought Mom and Dad said you don't like boys."

"That's just 'cause they don't _want_ me to. They think I can _only_ like girls."

"That's dumb." She doesn't see why anyone would waste their time thinking that.

"Yeah. I know. So...Just act like you don't know anything. I'll literally give you the money Mom gave me-"

" _No._ Keep the money. Spend it on something for your date." She smiles at the thought, which makes him chuckle and shake his head.

"So what should I be. Help me out" he smiles, and after giggling she takes a good look at both costumes.

"Ummmm...The mummy." She thinks it has a better chance of standing out.

"Okay," he figures. "But you better be right. If he's unimpressed I'm blaming you."

As they begin to giggle, Jonah wants nothing more than for moments like these to continue throughout the night.

And he knows the exact person who he wishes the share them with.

This particular person-it’s Cyrus by the way-is lying down across the top of his bed, not only in more of a mental panic than Jonah, but without a costume, and now with feels like the inability to feel his legs.

"I don't think I can feel my legs..." He can't keep his eyes away from the ceiling.

"Is it because I'm sitting on them?" Amber, the friend from school who he's planning to act like he's going to the carnival with so he's not questionable, asks him.

"No, you weigh like thirty pounds."

She snickers at him.

"I think I'm just that nervous."

"Why _would_ you be?" She stands up and turns right towards him.

"Because it's _Jonah."_ He's almost whining when looking over to her.

"Since _when_  do you get so nervous." She finds it pretty adorable.

"Since _now!_ " He sits up in exasperation.

"You look _great,_ okay? We're gonna go to the carnival, you're gonna see Jonah, and I'm gonna see Johnny." She lights up at the thought of the older boy at their school she's been seeing.

He jokingly rolls his eyes at her, and the two of them laugh as she smacks his shoulder.

"I can't wait to see what he's wearing..." Cyrus looks off to side in deep thought, smiling from the exciting suspense.

"Don't you think it's a little unfair how you're making him show up in costume and _you're_ just in— _that?"_ She points to his fancy getup of jeans and long sleeved cerulean Henley.

"It's a _surprise."_ He lightly insists in a shy smile, giggling along with her.

"Again-you look awesome. You're gonna knock him dead." She pulls him up beside her.

"That's _kind of_ what I'm trying to avoid."

Cyrus' mother Valeri enters the room just as they're cracking up.

"You kids ready?" She didn't mean to interrupt.

"Yeah." They're all smiles, and Valeri eyes down what the each of them are wearing. Amber looks pretty sharp herself, and it can't help but look like they're planning to have a date with each other rather than other people.

"You two look so cute. Can I get a picture?"

" _Mom, no."_

Amber snickers at his reaction that's only making Valeri ask more.

" _No_ —Mom. We gotta go." Cyrus takes Amber's arm, and Valeri contently watches them head downstairs.

"Does she seriously think-?" Cyrus is whispering to Amber before the bottom of the stairs.

" _Told_ you you should have worn a costume," she grins at him, and Mr. Goodman walks back inside to them snickering.

"Your Mom taking you to the fair?" He asks Cyrus.

"Yeah."

"Okay. Be careful, now. Those places get crowded so you might want to hold hands."

It pains them, it really does.

"Ready?" Valeri comes to their rescue, walking down and moving past them.

"Yeah." Amber plasters a smile and immediately follows her out the door.

"I'm gonna get my wallet" Cyrus informs his Dad, but before he can even look in the other direction he's brought to a halt.

"Yeah."

"Not that I need to tell you this, but look after Amber tonight. It's a dangerous world out there."

"I— _know,_ Dad..." He hates that this has to be implied.

"I just want you guys to be safe out there on your first date."

"I'm pretty sure she has a boyfriend."

"And it's okay if you're jealous of that."

"Okay Dad..." Now unable to stop cringing, Cyrus turns around and dashes up the staircase to have one moment of peace up in his room.

"What was that?" His Dad can hear him whispering something under his breath.

"Nothing...!"

 

The moment a mummified Jonah begins walking down the stairs into the living room, Shara Beck is already pulling out her camera.

"Oh, you look _adorable!"_ She begins flashing pictures with no warning.

"Oh my _God! Mom!"_ He was only able to walk down so far; now blocking his face.

"Oh, _come on!_ This is your first big night out with friends in _weeks-!"_

 _"Mooom!"_ He doesn't need his own Mom reminding him how underwhelming his social life is.

"Maybe we can fix you up onsome makeup to _really-"_

" _Trust me_ the costume is already embarrassing enough..." He walks off of the stairs in a resumed panic.

"Sweetie it's _okay..._ " The sheer terror on his face isn't a good look on him. She steps over and strokes his cheek.

"It'll _be_ okay." She gives the other one a kiss.

"You want to leave now or do you need some time?"

"L-let's just go." He faces the direction of the other room. That front door is calling his name.

What happened in that hotel bar felt like such a fantasy; he doesn't want to hold tonight to a higher standard.

Cyrus isn't some untouchable human being that has each exchange they share planned from start to finish. If anything, he almost _wants_ Jonah to see how he's just as emotional about this so he can know he's not alone.

Cyrus may be more dominant, but _never_ has he felt a way such as this.

Something he plans to express to Jonah tonight as much as he possibly can.

 

It's been almost ten minutes since Valeri has pulled up just before the carnival's scenery, and she's still under the impression that Jonah hasn't yet spotted these kids who she still wants to take a look at, when really Jonah's just using the passing of time as an excuse to sit here and contemplate.

He isn't lying; he _doesn't_ see Cyrus anywhere. If Valeri _does_ have to see him with her own two eyes he'll just say he's apart of the group who invited him.

**I'm here**

Cyrus was debating for almost two minutes whether or not to use an emoji.

"Oh, uh, look I see them..." Now knowing that he's actually here, Jonah's plan to discontinue his lying has come to an utter fail.

"Where?"

"Uhhhh..."

His eyes scan for a random kid his age to point to.

"There..."

Leave it for the over friendly girls from Chemistry to be here on the same night.

"Oh! Okay. Don't get into any trouble with them-"

" _Mooom."_

"Alright, alright. They're all really cute-"

"Yes I know." This is actually sucking the life out of him. 

"Okay, don't worry. I'll let you go."

"Thank you. Love you." He opens his door and steps out into the lot.

"Keep in touch!"

"Got it." The door closes and he carefully makes his way towards the scene. Able to sense how Valeri is still parked and keeping an eye on him, he sees that Iris, Buffy and Andi are still goofing off with the claw machine. Dammit, does this mean he has to greet them? Whatever will keep up the charade.

 **Me too** he texts Cyrus just as he's entered the setting.

He looks back to see that Valeri has fortunately driven off, which means the girls will never even have to know he's here.

" _Hey Jonah!_ " They're clamoring at him just when he was about to complete tip toeing past them.

"Hey...!" He forces a smile and looks their way.

"Who you here with?" They know he can't be alone, but partially wishes he was so they could again take him under their wing.

"Oh, I'm uh meeting someone..." He points in the direction he plans on continuing in. Any moment now.

"Oh? Who is she?" Buffy asks, and frankly Jonah‘s getting sick of all this heteronormativity.

"He's just someone I know."

Like _they_ need to know that Jonah's seeing someone as more than a friend. Since when is it _their_ business? Or _anyone's,_ for that matter? In fact, he's starting to think they're more _clingy_ rather than they are friendly.

"Oh, okay...! W-we'll see you..." Andi scratches the back of her neck.

"Bye Jonah..." Buffy waves flimsily.

"See ya..." He takes one glance at an unamused Iris, and decides to finally make his departure.

" _What?_ " Buffy demands to know her problem.

"He's not _that_ cute."

Buffy and Andi are genuinely offended. "Well you sure seemed to think he was cute _yesterday,"_ Andi figures.

"Well I was pretending. He's all yours."

He's actually all Cyrus.' ,

 

Standing off to side away from the cluster of people, Jonah can't handle his nerve wrecking anticipation any longer.

 **Where should I meet** -

"Boo!"

Jonah gasps aloud, unable to tell if he's more startled by the noise or more shocked that he's finally seeing Cyrus again after what feels like  all this time.

" _Cyrus..."_ He sighs out, returning his glowing smile and bringing him in for a hug. Cyrus is suddenly warm all over.

"Hey..." The contact fills him with relief, and gives him the courage to nuzzle his nose against Jonah's shoulder.

He gives his back a few pats before they mutually separate.

" _Where's_ your costume?" Jonah grins, a bit offended by his choice but not exactly complaining about what he's chosen to wear instead.

"You weren't wearing one last time, so now I'm not wearing one this time!" Cyrus goofily claims, admiring Jonah's grin before fessing up "Alright I couldn't make a decision."

" _What?!_ " Jonah appalled but still laughing.

"I looked _lame_ in everything! Besides my predator alien costume."

"Okay liar." Jonah smirks at him with a shake of his head, and Cyrus' face lights up more than he'd like to admit.

Jonah gets the feeling that he just might be a bit more self conscious than he'd ever dare to admit.

"Well I _still_ can't believe that I look like this when _you_ look like that," he motions over to him. Cyrus giggles.

"This would look _way_ better on you than it does on me." Jonah's sure of it.

" _Please._ I must say, you make a pretty good mummy."

" _Must_ you?" Jonah plays around.

"Yes."

This has them both giggle, and Cyrus has his arm wrapped around him the moment they start walking.

Cyrus may not care about what most people think, but Jonah most certainly does. Once they've entered the space of the public eye, Cyrus notices Jonah's tense expression almost right away.

"Hey there's a lot of people around what do you say we go somewhere more private..." He brings them to a slow stop, and the transition in Jonah's face is something he loves to see. For Cyrus what matters most tonight is Jonah's comfort.

Being alone might be just as nerve wrecking, but it's what they both need.

On their way back, to ease what he can of the nerves, Cyrus cracks Jonah up by busting a few lame dances to the inappropriately non-Halloween themed music.

"You like my dance moves?"

"How could I _not."_ Jonah's more than eager to take his hand when they've reached a fair amount of distance.

"Since I danced for you you gotta sing for me."

" _What?"_ Jonah's reaction is priceless, and they're both pretty sure their obnoxious laughing can be heard by all the people they had surrounded.

"That is _not_ how that works," Jonah smiles once they're finished.

"Mm, all I'm saying is it would be a shame if something happened to that guy on stage up there and you had to fill in."

" _Cyrus-"_ Jonah can't even continue because of how much he's laughing, and within a few seconds Cyrus is pretty sure neither of them can catch their breath.

" _Jesus_ " he whispers, having to still his face so it doesn't potentially fall off.

"Sorry, are you religious?" He suddenly checks with him, and Jonah almost can't believe it.

"That's adorable. I'm Catholic."

"Does this mean my Jew-ness will keep us apart?" Cyrus jokes, grinning ear to ear and taking both his hands.

It never ends with him, does it. Jonah swears by the end of tonight he's not going to have either of his lungs.

"Never."

"Alright," Cyrus' celebratory tone makes Jonah chortle.

"Is this alright with you? Us being out here?" Jonah makes sure Cyrus is looking at him.

"Here with you where it's spooky and away from everyone else?" He's not being sarcastic.

"Fine by me."

Every time Cyrus makes Jonah laugh it's like his heart takes another enormously giant leap.

The impact they already have one another is amazingly riveting.

"It's just—Kids I know from school are here, and-"

"Hey." Cyrus squeezes onto his hand. "I get it. My parents are _completely_ brain dead when it comes to my sexuality."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We don't even practice Judaism. They're just— _so_ traditional that it kind of tricks them into _thinking_ I'm straight?" He guesses. "It's really annoying. Like, the friend I came with tonight, they think we're involved somehow, when she's _literally_ here to see this guy she’s been with.”

Jonah doesn't know how else to express his amusement. It's more of a shaky breath instead of a laugh. Upon his face a smile is still plastered, his eyes are almost tearing.

"R-really..." As much as he feels bad that it's not simple for Cyrus either, he's glad to not to be alone.

"Yup. She's here to see the guy she's seeing, and, I'm here to see the guy _I'm_ seeing, so..."

Jonah looks so overjoyed it almost makes them both want to cry.

"And I'd really like to continue to..." Cyrus finishes with.

"M-me too." Jonah _needs_ for him to know that right here right now.

"And bel _ieve_ me, I _want_ people to know that. I _want_ to take you out there in front of everyone and just—"

He doesn't _want_ to spend the rest of this night in worry. He was in too much of an overdrive about this stuff before this night began. All _week,_ actually.

"You know what, do you go wanna play something, maybe?" They shouldn't have to be avoiding everyone else to enjoy their time together.

"Yeah I'd love that..." Cyrus is in awe of his bravery. Jonah snickers at his amazement and drags him all the way back over to the crowd.

"Just keep me away from those claw machines. I'll spend all night trying to win you something."

This has Jonah just about lose it. Cyrus doesn't know how he's going to get him to laugh like that again but he's certainly going to try.

"Hey look, there's one right there." Jonah purposely points over to the nearest one, the one that he saw the girls had been messing with.

"What did I _tell you?!"_ Cyrus smiles, laughing with him each step of the way there.

They're already debating over who's going to pay the twenty five cents, and Cyrus throws his quarter into the slot before Jonah can protest.

"Hey!" He smiles, and Cyrus struggles to shush to him as he guffaws.

"Lemme show you how to win something on the first try." Cyrus uses this as an excuse to grab Jonah's hand and clutch it onto the stick that helps guide the claw.

" _What“_ he teases, seeing Jonah's erupted into a series of adoring giggles, which makes him laugh so hard that he accidentally presses onto the button that ejects the claw down into the pile of stuffed animals.

"Oh no!" Cyrus almost loses his breath, and now Jonah can barely even get out a curse. The claw utterly fails to catch anything, and to be sure this time, they put in the rest of their quarters that they didn't have much of in the first place.

Nothing is won.

"What?! _No!_ _This_ is why I can't be near these things look what you _did!"_ Cyrus teases Jonah in a raised voice and contagiously humongous smile that's passed right onto him.

He giggles when pulling Cyrus away, and they begin their walk among the expanded property.

"I cannot _wait_ for the thirty first, man." Cyrus relaxingly informs him, and to make sure Jonah doesn’t think he meant that in any way platonic, he leans over and pecks his cheek.

"I gonna see you?"

If Jonah's smile wasn't going away before, it's certainly not going away anytime now.

"Really? I just assumed you already had plans."

"Well, I _do,_ but, now I was kinda hoping I could in _clude_ you, in my plans. If that's okay."

" _Really?_ " Jonah repeats, unable to shake the fact that Cyrus wants to _keep_  on seeing him. "What do you do?" Growing nervous, he stops them in their tracks and faces him.

"A few friends and just go around the neighborhood and after that we just stay in for the night."

"So, trick or treating." Jonah grins.

"Technically, yes."

At the end of their snickering Jonah is back to overthinking.

"So like, your friends-"

"They know all about me. They'll be cool with us."

"But will they be cool with _me?"_ Jonah's growing overly insecure.

"I can a _ssure_ that if they even _look_ at you the wrong way they'll be dealing with me." Cyrus is boldly stating, and Jonah swears he can never catch a break with him.

"You're too much..." He smiles.

"I know. Let's go." He remains his grip on his hand and leads him forward.

"Where are we going?"

" _No_ idea..." They come across a tub of under water apples no one is caring to bob for; Cyrus reaching down and pulling one out as they pass by.

"Hungry?" He offers to him, and Jonah's face heats up as he shakes his head. "No..." He's back to smiling.

"Mm, okay." Cyrus takes a bite out of it right then and there, and the smooth eye contact isn't helping Jonah feel any less tempted. The bite Cyrus took from the apple suddenly reminds Jonah of the famous story within the Bible about wrongfully feeding into temptation, which   _really_ isn't making this situation any easier.

"Soooo, um, who did you show up with again tonight?" He has to change the subject so he doesn't pounce at him.

"My friend Amber,"

Cyrus can hear what he can only conclude as the shakes in Jonah's tone, and he knows to bring it down a few notches.

So Jonah doesn't give himself a breakdown like he did the last time, Cyrus feels that this is something they should stray away from even hinting at for the sake of both of them.

"She's over there." He points her out dancing along with Johnny several feet over from them.

"She's cute,"

Cyrus loves to hear that.

"Yeah, she's great. That guy she's dancing with is a junior at our school. She's going through her 'older guy phase.'" His eyes roll.

"Like me?" Jonah smirks, and Cyrus just about forgets to breathe as he laughs.

" _Yes. One year"_ he refers to their age difference, and Jonah asks him a second question after another storm of theirs is laughed up.

"So, have you done this before? Like,"

"Dated?" Cyrus figures it's what he's trying to say.

"Yeah." Jonah feels remorse that it's been said, since he knows it really actually isn't any of his business. His tongue pushes against the right inside of his cheek.

Cyrus smugly laughs at the thought. "I've _tried_ to, but this has gotta be my real first time really succeeding at it."

This has Jonah smile. Hell, for him this his first _opportunity_. And he _still_ doesn't know if he has any idea how or what he's doing.

"So, you don't have any exes?" This still feels way out of his territory.

"I got ex _friends,"_ Cyrus starts to smirk, and hearing something that should bring on nothing but dark memories for Jonah has him light up.

" _Oh,_ yeah, those are the best." He can surely relate to that.

His sarcasm has them smile.

"I guess I _do_ kind of have an 'ex.' She's a girl, though, so I still don't know if it counts."

"Was it before or after you knew?"

" _Both."_ Cyrus doesn't like looking back at those times, but he'll do it for him. "I still don't think she knows the real reason why things ended."

"So, you have no history with any guys?" He's surprised to hear.

"Eh. They were more so flings than they were romantic involvements."

"So that means, like, have you—" Jonah hates to pry but one thing is just leading into the next. It's not like there's much edgy stuff to say about him _self_.

"Have I gotten laid? Yes."

Jonah can't tell if he's smiling because he feels embarrassed or because he's intrigued. _Embarrassingly_  intrigued. He knew it was probably so, but now that he knows for sure, he's both curious _and_ self conscious.

"Yeah, I uh, I thought so, haha..." Now he just might have another anxiety attack, and a well aware Cyrus gently strokes a piece of his hair.

Jonah's smile is no longer strictly nervous.

"Listen, so..."

Jonah feels his heart literally might just drop into his stomach.

"That night at the event thing, you were literally the _only_ reason why I didn't wanna ditch. Even be _fore_ I sat with you." He makes sure this'll go somewhere.

"Really...?"

" _Yes."_ Cyrus means it. "And I was— _so_ nervous."

He chuckles to settle the nerves, and Jonah instinctively forces one back.

"I _never_ get like that. Usually I'm just scouting for hookups. But right when I saw you, I _wanted_ things to be different. It took me half the night to put myself out there."

"Well you did a pretty good job at it," Jonah smiles, soaking in the fact that he was already somewhat important to Cyrus from the _start._ Getting him alone was never the main thing on his mind. Jonah is one of the few people he considers special. _Dearly_ special.

"Trust me. I was— _screaming_ on the inside." He clarifies, in which they both giggle.

"I was too..." Jonah grins. Not like it's much of a revelation. "No guy...Has ever really liked me like this."

"No guy has ever really liked me like this either."

" _Really?_ No one night stand of yours ever wanted something more?" Jonah teases, and Cyrus almost feels embarrassed for blushing.

“Um...I'm just _really_ glad I met you. And that we're continuing... _This."_ He concludes.

"Yeah...Yeah me too..." Jonah needs to snap himself out of this trance.

"Race you back to the place less crowded?" Cyrus suggests, and once Jonah smiles in approval Cyrus is already getting a head a start.

"Hey!”

Jonah just barely catches up to him, and the fifteen seconds it takes for them to sprint back there at full speed is filled with the perfect kind of pandemonium.

They barely have enough breath left to finally kiss one another by the time they notice nobody is any longer around, and Cyrus drops into the grass the unfinished apple that stuck to his hand the whole run.

"Not gonna finish that?" Jonah smiles as they both catch some well needed breath, initiating their next kiss and hoping he's doing it correctly.

He must be doing _something_ right if Cyrus is  humming against his lips and gently seating them onto the ground.

Instead of feeling overwhelmed when Cyrus lays himself down on top of him, Jonah kisses him like never before and keeps their bodies dense.

It's not like the last time. Better, is what it is. Jonah's not scared of letting things potentially move forward. He already trusts Cyrus enough to admit that.

According to them, the rest of the world has been tuned out, even when they've stopped.

Jonah just about pouts when Cyrus discontents their lips, something Cyrus finds rather cute.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you're looking at me like you want something." He's not afraid to tease, arching back laughing when Jonah is begging with nothing other than his expression.

" _Cyrus..."_

He honestly almost guffaws. On one end Cyrus finds Jonah's state insanely adorable and admittedly tempting, but on the opposite end he knows it's something to not be neglected.

He carefully sits them up.

"You _really_ wanna be getting off in a bunch a grass?" His intrigued smile is making Jonah giggle

"Maybe,” He gently glides his fingers through the back of Cyrus' hair.

"Hm..." Cyrus smirks to him. "Too bad I respect you too much for that to happen."

Jonah keeps one hand in Cyrus' hair and moves the other his cheek, which he lightly strokes with his fingers.

"You're too kind." He means it, bringing him in for another kiss not meant to be taken in other directions.

He can't have Cyrus thinking he's some sex crazed _maniac,_ or anything. _Cyrus,_ who has more notches under his belt than he can keep up with.

Barging past the bushes is an emotionally uncharged Amber, who doesn't even notice them until the boys are breaking apart and looking at her in alert.

"Oh hey Cyrus."

"Amber? Where's Johnny?"

" _Johnny_ got mad and called me a whore 'cause I wouldn't go all the way with him."

"How does _that_ work?" Jonah questions this kid's knowledge, and that's enough to send Cyrus up in arms.

" _What?_ That _prick_ I'll _kill_ him!"

Jonah finds his protectiveness stunningly amusing.

" _Amber!_ " The older and infamous boy comes speeding up to her, and Cyrus and Jonah are both already cringing.

"Why'd you leave??"

" _You told me to!"_

"She doesn't want you around anymore man, just leave." Cyrus keeps it mellow, which isn't in Johnny's good favor.

" _How about_ you fuck off?"

Jonah comes to his defense. "How about _you_ stop pestering younger girls?"

He clenches onto the grass when Johnny does as much as look at him.

"The _fuck_ you say to me?"

As Jonah is awkwardly waiting for both Amber and Cyrus to stop yelling at him, he’s dreadfully drawn to the sight of Iris, Buffy and Andi all too busy over chatting each other's ears off to notice what they're walking into.

" _Shit,_ " he curses, and when the girls look over it's not Jonah who Iris is focused on.

" _Cyrus?_ "

" _Shit._ " Now Cyrus is saying it, recognizing her all too well and putting a stop to Amber and Johnny's fighting.

"You know him?" Buffy asks Iris, and Jonah feels he should finally get off the ground as they’re walking directly to them.

"Yeah, this is Cyrus. The guy I dated last year."

She had never introduced him to them. As far as they know the breakup was mutual.

"Hi Amber."

"Hey Iris."

This isn't the first they're seeing of each other.

Jonah is just currently trying to look at this whole thing with a fresh pair of eyes.

"Jonah I had no idea you knew Cyrus." She thinks it's totally intriguing.

"You know them?" Cyrus asks.

"Yeah they uh, go to my school."

"I _told you_ she transferred," Amber asserts to him.

"Oh yeah..."

"So I'm guessing you two broke up because he's an obvious _faggot,_ right?" Johnny cuts in, bringing nothing but discomfort for the rest of them. It’s devastating for Jonah to see Cyrus so humiliated; face beat red and eyes on the verge of tears. He can’t bring himself to look at anyone.

Before Jonah can go forward with punching Johnny right in the _fucking jaw,_ Buffy’s speaking up.

"Get the _fuck_ out of here." She’s ready to do worse to him, and this sends him running.

"Racist!" She yells, and Amber assumes that that's also probably true.

"I thought he was woke..." She just might cry, and Cyrus pats her shoulder.

He can't ignore the look of urgency Iris is giving him.

"Are you really?"

"A faggot?" He smirks, to which Jonah giggles and shakes his head.

"Gay." Iris corrects his language.

"Oh, that? Yeah." Cyrus returns Jonah's bursting smile.

Andi looks back and forth between the both of them. "So, um," Iris brings up before Jonah is brought to question.

"Who was that guy you were with?" She looks at Amber.

"Some douche she'll _no longer be seeing,"_ Cyrus answers for her, causing the rest to laugh.

"Whatever." Amber’s mad at herself for ever trusting him, looking down below with sullen eyes that convinces Iris to go forward with her offer.

"You wanna hang out with us?"

"Really?" Amber would be more than happy to, perking up and walking right over next to them. Buffy and Andi both show their interest, and the boys encourage her on when she looks at them.

"Meet back here soon?" Cyrus asks her.

"Okay!"

"We'll see you guys." Buffy says to the two of them, Andi and Iris farewelling them as well.

No one suggests anything about either of the two until they've created a good distance between them.

"So, was that like a double date you guys were on?" Iris asks to Amber.

"Something like that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shall I write about Jonah with Cyrus and his friends on Halloween night?? Please please please please comment nothing makes me happier than hearing from you guys :’’’’’’)


	3. So Take My Hand:

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyrus takes Jonah trick or treating with his friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii I’m sad for this to come to an end but I really wasn’t intending for the story to be so long. I plan to write much more jock!cyrus and shy!jonah in the future :)

This time, Jonah isn't waking up on the verge of an anxiety attack because he knows he'll be seeing Cyrus for Halloween tonight. No, this morning, he's waking up short of breath and almost rolling off the edge of his bed because tonight he's going to be seeing Cyrus' _friends._ Something he's been eating himself up over for the past five days since he's seen him.

Time really couldn't have passed by any slower for the either of them.

Steadily regaining what he can of his breath, he arches down and reaches for his phone off of the floor. The date catches his eye before anything else. The thirty first. Then there's the time. Seven a.m.

Twelve more hours until the night, that, according to a mind like his, can make or break the rest of his year. Rest of his life, even. Maybe. Probably not. Or it could just might. His heart no longer drops at an unread morning text from Cyrus, like it so recently used to. At least not in the terrible, awful way like before. The kind of way that made him want to hurl, crawl into a ball, and pass out. _Now_ all he wants to do is happily sink back into bed and have these words of Cyrus' imbedded into his brain.

**Fellow spooky morning to you, trick or treat date of mine.**

That was eight minutes ago. The perfect amount of time for Jonah to text back without looking like a phone addict. Not that Cyrus minds unhealthily quick responses. He encourages them. _Especially_ from Jonah, who's still too caught up in his own head to go start acting like that just yet. Do they even count as boyfriends? Jonah almost leaves his own body whenever he begins to think that. Too soon. _Is it,_ though? Have they really moved past the 'dating' stage and into a 'relationship’? This whole thing is making his head spin. In a mostly good way, he thinks.

**Good morning, I can't wait to see you tonight.**

He's not as good with the flirting Cyrus he is. Not that Cyrus expects him to be.  He loves the differences between them, like how he, for one, doesn't even bother waiting to text back.

Jonah's face lights right up at the timing of his response.

**Can't wait either. They'll like you. I promise. You don't even have to try.**

Jonah feels he doesn't deserve this compliment because of how far it is from the truth, but it's nice to know how far Cyrus will go to make him smile.

Contemplating what he wants to say next, he's staring down his phone the whole way down the stairs into his kitchen, where Kelsey and her twin sister are eating their Halloween themed pancakes that Valeri's at the stove preparing more of.

"Morning baby."

"Hey..." Eyes still burning from the brightness of his phone, he mindlessly sits down next to the girls.

"Don't they look so cute? Where's yours?"

"Huh?" He looks up, seeing Kelsey and Tanya in their matching black and orange witch costumes.

"Where's your costume?" Kelsey asks.

"I'll wear it tonight." Jonah doesn't exactly need much attention being drawn to him at school. Not when people are making comments about him hanging around Iris, Buffy and Andi. Specifically Derek, who's using it as yet another reason to call Jonah gay. He's close, but not quite there. Jonah should know.

He can sense Valeri tightening up. At the end of the night on Friday, Cyrus hugged him goodbye just like everyone else did. Just like the girls. Valeri saw that and mentioned him the moment a content Jonah got into the car. Jonah never understood her logic. He's allowed to be friends with all the girls in the world, who, for all his parents know, could be getting him into trouble, but the moment he crosses paths with _one_ guy, it's a problem. Something that concerns her and has her ask questions.

In the heat of the moment, Jonah told her Cyrus was dating Amber. Not that they need _more_ people believing that.

But since Valeri is under the impression that Jonah will be seeing more girls tonight than he will be boys-which is a complete lie-there's suddenly no longer much of a problem.

Luckily for Jonah, she'll be too busy taking the girls trick or treating to transport him.

As far as Jonah's Dad is concerned, Jonah's attraction to boys isn't something he fully accepts, but knows it’s not much of his business, either.

Tonight he's going to drop Jonah off at a boy's house and not really think anything of it, whereas if it was Valeri she'd be asking a million questions and be making sure at least one girl was visible.Her husband doesn't really see it as something to get worked up about. In conclusion, he's much less dramatic. Something Jonah wishes he could say for himself.

"Are you and your friends really going trick or treating?" Tanya starts to tease.

"Yeah, so what?" He pokes at her, smiling at the sound of their giggles.

"Not too late, okay?" Valeri acts like this is what she's concerned about.

"Don't worry. We're not gonna be out for too long."

"Since when is _Jonah_ allowed to hang out with a bunch of _girls?_ " Kelsey asks, something Jonah couldn't be happier about her pointing out.

"Because they're _nice_ girls that aren't getting him to trouble. We don't need a bunch of boys peer pressuring him.”

Jonah grimaces. _Bullshit. Her_ definition of trouble might as well be hand holding. She'd probably rather him _drink_ than God forbid- _be with a boy._

"Where are you going? You need to eat your pancakes!" She says to him when seeing he's walking back up the stairs.

"No. I don't."

This has the twins smile. Valeri, not so much. She and Jonah don't talk much for the rest of the morning, and his sisters make up most of the dialogue during the ride to school.

Thanks to the rule that siblings who fall under the appropriate age category are eligible to attend Jefferson Academy a year after their sibling has been accepted, the two of them just might begin attending next fall.

Jonah's quite fond of the concept. It means that next year he might not be so alone. Not that he's alone anymore.

"Where's your costume?" Iris catches up with Jonah in the hallway, dressed in a violet princess dress and plastic heels, topping it off with a big black witch hat.

"Saving it for Cyrus?" She smiles, grinning at how quickly he begins to blush and studying his smile.

"Sort of." They stop at his locker, which he opens to retrieve his books for first period.

"You don't look very excited for tonight," she observes.

"I am." He takes out his textbook and binder and tucks it under his arm.

"I'm just, nervous too, that's all." He faces her after shutting the door.

"Cyrus never met all of my friends, but I met all of his. They're cool. They knew me being his girlfriend wasn't a good idea but were still super nice to me. You guys are a good idea."

"Not according to my mother."

"Holy shit, she found out?" This is news to her.

"Not yet, but she's bound to sooner or later."

There's a pause in the conversation, which means it's the perfect timing for Derek and his two suck up sidekicks to come walking up.

" _Wow_ Jonah, I gotta say, this is your worst costume _yet,"_ Derek starts up, making Jonah grimace through him as both the suck ups laugh.

"Shouldn't you guys be getting to _class?_ " Iris asks them.

"And just what the hell are _you_ supposed to be." Derek looks at her.

"What does it _look_ like? I'm a princess who's also a witch."

"Oh, _I see._ You guys are gonna match. _That's_ cute." Derek looks back to Jonah, who's waiting for nothing more than for them to leave.

"You gonna be hanging with your _chick clique_ tonight?"

If Jonah hangs out with a bunch of girls, he's gay, and if he hangs out with a bunch of _guys_ , he's even _more_ gay. He can never win with this kid.

"Since when is it any of your business what I'm doing tonight?" He snaps to him.

"Wait. You two aren't going on a _date,_ are you? 'Cause I think we all know how pointless that would be." He glances at the both of them.

"Let's just go" Jonah says to her, taking Iris' wrist and leading her in the opposite direction.

"You're not fooling anyone!" Derek yells out.

"I'm not _trying_ to." Jonah affirms.

Seeing Jonah simply ignore him and disappear like that, is always the last thing Derek's ego needs or wants.

 

When their first classes of the day have come to an end, Cyrus, Amber, Marty, Walker, and TJ all meet up to walk to the next class they all share together.

"So Amber, tell us about him." TJ's still trying to get details on Jonah, something Cyrus is keeping quiet about because of how in his face the guys are hounding about it to him.

This is why he avoided them when he first arrived.

"Well, he's _really_ cute, right Cyrus?" Amber smiles at him, and three boys snicker.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." He acts as careless as can be, trying not to blush at the image of Jonah inside his head. It's not like Amber's wrong.

"He goes to school with Iris," he brings up.

" _Your_ Iris?" Marty asks, as they make a stop at Amber's locker.

"No Marty, the _song_ Iris."

Trading her books for new supplies, Amber snickers.

"I keep forgetting she transferred" Walker brings up.

She rolls her eyes.

"So uh, Amber, you haven't seen Johnny lately, have you?" TJ heard about the incident, and is making sure they've been nowhere near each other.

"Never wanna see his face again. Who is he. Who's that..." She focuses on her mirrored reflection, adding a few touches to her hair.

Marty scoffs. Before TJ tries to flirt with her, Amber closes her door and turns specifically to Cyrus.

"Iris doesn't think Jonah's ' _that cute',_ by the way." She grins, knowing it'll spark a reaction.

But he keeps his thoughts to himself.

" _Cyrus_ must disagree," Walker smiles, he and the rest of them blatantly grinning at Cyrus as they resume to walk.

"I'll have to see for my _self_." TJ jokes, making Cyrus glare once again.

The only reason he's not talking about Jonah is because he knows that the moment he starts, he won't be able to stop.

 

With the school day finally behind them, Andi, Buffy and Iris are walking along with Jonah to the front exit of the school, where the poor kid looks to be more timid with each step forward.

"So is he your boyfriend?" Buffy's question isn't helping his state of mind, the other two scowling at her.

"I-I don't know I hope so..." His eyes remain straight ahead. The drastic shifts in his facial expressions are saying it all.

He mindlessly makes his way out the front doors, and onto the front sidewalk where he's followed.

"Do you want one of us to be there so your Mom isn't as suspicious?" Andi asks.

"I should be fine. My Dad's taking me. I just have to survive the car ride home with her."

The sight of his father and sisters waiting for him in the car say otherwise.

"Holy crap it's him. Thank God." He flashes a quick sign of the cross in relief, and the girls smile at one another.

"I'm gonna go." He faces them. "Hope you guys have a nice night,"

"You too. Have fun." Iris goes in for a hug, and Jonah gives one to the each of them.

After this he sees Derek and the suck ups standing not too far over from them, which is exactly what motivates him to sprint to the car.

"Hey Dad," he climbs in, dropping down his stuff and hastily buckling his seatbelt. He shuts the door.

"Wow Jonah, who knew you were so popular with the ladies," Tanya teases, seated next to Kelsey in the back.

'Not just the ladies' Kelsey thinks in response.

Glancing at her through the rear view mirror, Jonah scoffs but also smiles. "Sure."

"You're not playing games with any of them, are you?" His father checks.

"No..."

"Okay, just checking." With that he turns on the radio. Jonah ignores his sisters giggles.

" _Hey!_ " Out of the corner of his eye, Derek could have sworn he saw Jonah standing with the three girls, who are still standing in the same spot and chatting.

"You hanging out with your GBF?"

"Our _what?_ " Buffy recoils.

"Ya know, gay best friend."

For once, Andi makes an acknowledgement.

"Fuck off Derek."

Back in the car that's yet to gone anywhere, Jonah's making sure his Dad is going to be the one to taking him to see Cyrus tonight.

"What time?"

"Seven.” This is the second time he's had to tell him.

A vibration from his phone is felt inside his pocket, and he scrambles to see who it is.

Cyrus had texted him Walker's address.

It's no secret that he's flushing up.

"H-here's the address" he practically shoves the phone in his face, and Stephen can't help but notice the text above sent by Cyrus that’s, in Stephen’s eyes a pretty clear giveaway.

 **Miss feeling you**.

He _really, really_ tries not to take that in a wrong way.

“Okay...Send it to me."

Jonah does as told so quickly that it's almost scary.

"Did you get it?"

"Yes...Who are these kids again?"

"Just three guys." He dodges the topic he can't have being discussed in the girls' presence. Kelsey may have it all figured out, but he wants Tanya to know on her own time.

"Okay Jonah." He begins patting his shoulder as a sign of support, only embarrassing him further.

"Dad. _Please-"_

"Okay, okay. I'll drive." He checks his mirrors then puts the car into drive.

On the way out of the lot, Jonah and Kelsey resume eye contact and exchange knowledgeable smirks.

 

To make things easier, Walker invited Cyrus, Marty, and TJ to come back home with him and pick up what they need for tonight on the way there.

"You send your _boyfriend_ my address yet?" He smiles to Cyrus as the four of them are entering outside.

"Boyfriend has a name."

"Well how are we supposed to _know that_ when you barely say anything about him?" TJ smirks.

"It's _Jonah._ Think you can remember that?" He stops in his tracks and faces him boldly.

"If we _don't_ will you murder us?" Marty smiles, him and Walker standing beside them.

"Not gonna let you forget." He looks to the both of them, and TJ dramatically scoffs at his words.

" _Damn,_ Cyrus. He that good in bed?"

Walker and Marty laugh at just how much Cyrus is grimacing.

"Not a priority to find out."

"So you _don't_ want to sleep with him? That's a first." Marty grins.

"That is _so not_ what I'm saying." Cyrus looks to him. "Just not the first thing on my mind."

"Since _when?"_ Walker teases.

" _Since_ he's the first guy I've ever _liked like this_ and I’ve learned that sex isn't the only thing that matters?" Cyrus tests.

" _Aw,”_ Marty laughs.

" _What."_

"Nothing! It's cool, Cyrus. You don't have to hide how you're into him."

"Yeah, you're not gonna act like a fucking dick-wad to him when we're around, right?" TJ checks. "'Cause _that_ would make you a grade-A douche."

"It's _not_ gonna be like that. Can you all just stand in front of me so I can quit turning??"

They move places so he can look at them all directly.

"You guys _can't_ go overboard. He's already nervous enough."

"Since when do we go _overboard?"_ Walker's in disbelief.

"You're _kidding me,_ right? Just _don't_ overwhelm him or make him feel ignored."

Marty snickers. "Okay, _relax,_ dude. We won't embarrass you." He grins.

Cyrus playfully shoves him as they resume their walk into the lot.

"Yeah." TJ chimes in. "We would _never_ tell him about the time you came so hard in your sleep that you cried.”

"I cried when I _noticed."_ He protests, only to laugh along with them right afterwards.

Cyrus knows he needs a good laugh right now, even if it is at his own extent.

 

The entire way to Walker's, Jonah was pretty sure he was going to actually sweat through the last resort ninja costume he had no choice but to decide on.

That mummy suit he wore last time would have been repetitive, and he really didn't want to put himself through that again. So a traditional ninja is going to be as original as he can get.

"Do you want me to walk you in?" Stephen asks, the moment he stops the car in front Walker's home.

"N-no it's fine..." Jonah unbuckles his seatbelt to relieve physical pressure.

He had texted Cyrus he was on his way, and now can't decide on saying if or not he’s here. He doesn't want them meeting just yet. Maybe when he's picked up.

"Y-you're picking me up, right?"

"Your mother's gonna be busy with the girls all night. Just text me when. No later than midnight okay?"

"Yeah I know."

"You can go up and knock. It's okay, I'm not looking."

" _Dad...!_ " Now pretty sure his body temperature is going to have him faint, Jonah wants nothing more than to get out into the cold.

"It's okay. It's between you and me."

Turns out the person Jonah likes is no girl after all, and Stephen's not the only one who's surprised with just how well he's taking it.

"Um...Thanks, for being so cool about this..." Jonah doesn't want to look at him just yet.

"Just be careful out there, okay? Make sure you hold hands." He no longer means Amber.

Jonah almost laughs and cries altogether, looking at him with a bright smile and glowing face.

"We'll see."

Stephen knows which way Jonah means that in, exhaling and patting his shoulder as he opens the door.

"Love you." They say it at the same time, Jonah smiling more when he steps out onto the sidewalk. Closing the door, he knows Stephen isn't going to leave until he sees he's made it inside.

Jonah takes a deep breath with each step leading him from the end of the lawn to the porch, motioning another quick sign of the cross before he rings the doorbell.

Clamoring can now be heard inside from the each of them, their overlapping chatter and running footsteps coming to a stop once they're behind the door.

Jonah smiles at the rough shushes and bantering whispers, more than satisfied when Cyrus is the one to open the door.

" _Heyyy,_ look at you!" He smiles, stepping out onto the porch and initiating a short but gratifying hug.

Standing beside them within the door way, the others are already smirking to each other about how quickly he makes Cyrus light up.

It's then when Stephen knows Jonah's in good hands, driving off with relief for his well being, but concern for the extra caution he knows they'll have to take.

Cyrus takes Jonah's wrist and leads him into the house where the rest are waiting to introduce themselves.

Walker's Blackbeard the Pirate, TJ's Slender Man without the mask for a good first impression, Marty's Kenny from South Park, and Cyrus is once again in his same old alien predator movie outfit.

"This is the second time I've seen you wearing this." Jonah smiles, shutting the door.

This has the others crack up, turning Jonah's smile into a grin and Cyrus' beaming into a playful glare.

"That's Walker that's Marty and that's TJ" he carelessly points to them one by one, Jonah snickering with them as he shakes their hands.

"Hey I'm Jonah."

"Hey, thanks for coming, so, that door with the mummy on it?" Walker points to the door past the living room with a 2D life size paper mummy hanging on it for Halloween spirit. "That's the bathroom, and I can lend you a pillow case if you have nothing to walk around with."

"Can you guys _please_ just call it trick or treating?!" Walker's Mom yells from the kitchen, causing simultaneous laughter between the boys.

"And a bunch of snacks in the kitchen if you want anything. My Mom says we're allowed to order delivery."

"Okay. We can order what's good with you guys whenever." Jonah remains shyly selfless.

Cyrus smirks at his sincerity.

"You eat pizza?" Marty asks, as Walker begins to take them into the kitchen.

"Yeah, you can order from wherever."

"Let's do Pizza Hut they're closer." TJ blabs.

"Papa John's is better." Marty asserts.

Jonah and Cyrus smile to each other about their banter.

"Mom this is Jonah." Walker introduces him to her at the table.

"Hi, nice to meet you." He smiles as she shakes his hand.

"You too. Don't let them get you into any trouble tonight, alright?" She teases the others, having the boys laugh.

"'Cause we all know how dangerous trick or treating can be." Walker comments sarcastically.

"Just _watch_ out." She instructs over their laughter.

"And _stick together!"_ She reminds, watching them return to the living room.

"You guys ready? It's still kinda light out." Walker turns to them.

"We can go now," Cyrus offers, looking at Jonah for his consideration. He nods in response.

"Yeah. Less little kids."

This answer has the rest snicker, and at that he lights up.

"Okay. I'm ready when you guys are." He talks to TJ and Marty but walks over behind Jonah. "How long you think we'll be out there?" Putting his hands on Jonah's shoulders and sliding them down around his torso, he hopes his social engagement will have them barely notice.

With a smile on the verge of unleashing and cheeks looking more pink then red, Jonah wishes he could seem oblivious. This shouldn't feel unexpected.

Cyrus' friends surely aren't surprised. It's obvious how much he cares for him, even if he'd rather not verbalize it. The least he can do is be discreetly honest.

"Okay! We'll get the pillow cases." Walker takes Marty upstairs, and TJ almost forgets the most important part of his costume.

"Guys what do you think mask or no mask??" He asks the remaining boys.

"If you want people to know who you are," Cyrus says.

"I dunno, I think people would still be able to tell." Jonah looks to the black suit and shoes he's wearing, figuring that should be enough of a hint.

"I should've thought this through. Let me go check." TJ gets his mask from the kitchen and runs into the bathroom, making Jonah snicker and Cyrus walk in front of him.

"You freaked yet?"

"Not at all." Jonah giggles.

"Really? _I_ am."

He laughs. "Where's your mask? You know, the one you scared me with that first night?"

"Didn't want to walk around in it all night. Sorry. Trick or treat." He comically corrects, making Jonah giggle more and even pull him closer.

"What about you? You don't have some ninja warrior mask?"

"Eh. Looked tacky." Jonah doesn't want to let go of him.

"That's alright. Wanted to see your face anyway."

This has Jonah go in for a kiss.

"Guys? I can't see much in this mask." TJ comes waddling back in with Slender Man's blank white disguise covering not just his face,but his whole head.

"Good." Cyrus teases, touching Jonah's wrist when seeing he's begun to laugh.

"Here you go." Walker and Marty come running down, handing them each one extra large gray pillow case to drag around.

"What am I holding?" TJ asks.

"What are you _wearing?_ " Marty asks him.

"I'm _Slender Man._ My face needs to be _slender."_ TJ's tone is fresh and steady for emphasis.

" _Slender_ doesn't mean _nonexistent_." Walker points out.

"I don't _know,_ okay?? I'm not the guy who made him." TJ's starting to feel a bit overheated inside his thick suit and faceless head.

Cyrus rolls his eyes. " _Cool._ Let's go before we're crowded with children. TJ just take your mask off."

"But it looks good right??"

"If I say no will you take it off?"

Walker's Mom walks in and gasps at the sight. "Oh, you boys look so scary and picture worthy!" She holds up her phone.

"Get together real quick!"

Marty has to guide TJ to where he needs to stand, something he hopes won't be his job for the whole night.

Beneath the mask, TJ smiles for the camera just like the rest of them.

 

Cyrus has still his hand on Jonah's back more than halfway down the block. With the streets growing busier and the sun going down, Jonah wonders if he should take his hand. The darker it gets, the easier it'll be. He's pretty sure people have given them stares all because Marty and TJ have decided to link arms, and _that's_ just so TJ doesn't hurt himself because of the mask he really should have taken off by now.

Not that Marty can see much either.

"Marty! You're supposed to be guiding me." TJ says when he almost brings them away from the rest.

"I can't see much through this hood."

"Yeah, 'cause it's so _big."_

"At least I look less ri _diculous_."

Jonah, Walker, and Cyrus have been snickering and scoffing throughout their whole dialogue.

"Guys whatever let's just go to this house." Walker says, to which they step up to the empty porch.

"Are you sure there's anyone here?" Marty asks, thirty seconds after the door bell's been rung, and right before the middle aged white man opens the door with a rifle in his hand.

Not only does Marty instantly unlink his arm from TJ, but Cyrus takes his hand off of Jonah.

"Trick or treat." TJ says, knowing someone's there, unable to sense the glares coming from those around him.

"We're gonna go..." Walker stiffens up, rushing his way down the steps and making sure the others follow.

Once they're all running, Marty grabs onto TJ so he doesn't go into the street, and Jonah flashes another cross sign.

"Let's go to a different street..." Walker can barely get the words out, panting along with them in front of the house three doors down.

TJ regains enough breath to speak up. " _Seriously_ though, guys. What was it."

"Let's just go before I choke you with my pillowcase." Says Marty.

Cyrus and Jonah stay a few steps behind, just so they can laugh with each other about everything going on.

They follow them down to the next street over, where TJ says he thinks they should make a pit stop.

"How about there?" Marty points to the house party going on directly across the street.

"Is that a party? It sounds like a party. I hear music-"

Marty rips off his mask.

" _Oh thank you I couldn't breathe in there..."_ TJ's heavy breaths are over dramatized.

Cyrus rolls his eyes again, which Jonah snickers at.

"Should we go in?" Walker asks, his question having them all slightly tense up.

"Wait. Is that Dynamite playing? Guys we have to go in there." Marty insists.

"What?" Cyrus recoils. "Where's the _actual_ Halloween music?!"

"Cyrus I am _so_ sorry" Walker grins, having the each of them laugh.

"So are we going in or not?" Marty asks, and again Cyrus looks to Jonah, who expresses his opinion. "I don't mind."

"I just wanna dance" TJ admits, and Walker and Marty agree.

"Fine by me," Cyrus says, putting his arm around Jonah when seeing his smile; leading them the rest of the way.

"TJ _let go of me_ you can _see."_ Marty smacks away his hand.

"Prude."

 

When entering inside the home and seeing how young they look compared to everyone else, the boys begin to wonder if making themselves known is really a good idea.

"What's with all the _alcohol? Where's_ the _candy?_ " TJ orders, and Marty punches his shoulder. "We just have to fit in."

"They're high school kids." Cyrus says.

" _We're_ high school kids," TJ protests.

"Not _older_ high school kids."

"I'm still not..." Jonah admits.

"Well we can pull it off. Come on." TJ walks further within.

"Does this mean we can't dance?" Marty asks.

He and Walker follow, leaving Jonah and Cyrus behind to face one another.

"You okay with being here?" Cyrus checks.

"Yeah. You?" Jonah pokes at his wrist.

"Bet we won't last too long. If a Maroon 5 comes on TJ will get angry and mask us leave."

"I love them. Your friends, I mean.” Jonah observes Marty and Walker bobbing their heads to Raise Your Glass, next to TJ who cringes at whatever's in his drink.

"Yeah, they've always stuck around." Cyrus looks with him.

"Would it—be alright if I stuck around?" Jonah feels silly just for asking, and Cyrus doesn't understand how it's even a question.

"I would go crazy if you didn't." He squeezes his hand, returning Jonah's smile of appreciation.

"Hey look." Jonah catches Iris, Buffy, Andi, and Amber out of the corner of his eye, looking over and seeing they're chatting right near the keg.

"Guys?" Cyrus calls out to them, and they light up at their presence.

Iris is now simply a witch, Andi's Miraculous Ladybug, Buffy's Wonder Woman, and Amber's Captain Marvel.

Both boys are happily greeting them, and the others make their way towards them.

"Hey Iris." Marty knew she looked familiar.

"Oh hey guys, it's been a while." She smiles to them.

"Hi Amber." TJ's focus goes to her.

"Hey..."

"I like your costume,"

"Yeah, me too. Uh, Buffy, Andi, this is Walker, Marty and TJ." She introduces them to one another.

"Hey uh, I love ladybugs." Walker points to Andi's outfit, and TJ's already obnoxiously snickering.

"Do you even know who I _am,_ TJ?" Amber tests him.

"Uhhh, Supergirl?"

"Close."

"Do you know who _I'm_ supposed to be?"

"A guy in a suit?"

" _Pshh. No,_ I'm Slender Man. My mask was a safety hazard."

"What about your hands?"

"What?"

"You know, doesn't Slender Man have really pointy fingers that look like tree branches?" Amber elaborates, and TJ gazes at his palms in despair. " _Aw!_ I _knew_ I was forgetting something!" This has the others laugh.

"Do you guys know whose house this is?" Cyrus asks the girls.

"Oh, we dunno." Iris answers. "We heard Fireflies and wanted to dance to it."

"See, I _told_ you they play great music." TJ says to Cyrus.

"I love your costume," Buffy points to Marty, and he's just surprised that she's interested.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I love Kenny."

This changes everything.

" _Yes_ I loved this song when I was ten!" TJ smiles when We R Who We R comes on.

"Me too!" Iris beams, Amber looking borderline offended when the two of them walk away to dance.

"Jealous Iris is swiping him away from you, Amber?" Cyrus teases, followed by Walker and Marty's cackles.

" _Ew."_

After laughing at her some more, Cyrus and Jonah decide to leave the five of them be and separate themselves further into the room.

"You okay?" Cyrus has been able to notice Jonah's been doing more observing than talking.

"Yeah, I just, kinda wanna try something to drink." He admits.

"What, like a Shirley temple?" Cyrus has him laugh.

"Something a bit more than that."

"Beer?" He guesses.

"Nah, beer's always sounded gross to me."

"Yeah, it's not the best. I never understood how people could want too much of that stuff." He observes inside the kitchen, where so far the only drinks he sees available are beer and soda.

"Hmmm. C'mere." He takes Jonah into the room and over to the fridge, laughing at his reaction.

"Cyrus-!"

"Shhhh." He opens it, seeing a full bottle of red wine on the door's shelf.

"Aha." He takes it out, and Jonah skeptically looks around.

"C'mon." Taking the bottle, Cyrus closes the door and makes sure Jonah's by his side when checking the drawers for a cork screw. Finding one doesn't take him long.

"You do this often?" Jonah asks, watching Cyrus successfully open the bottle.

"Eh. My Dad likes to have me get his wine for him."

Instead of two wine glasses, the glasses Cyrus gets for them are a small size. "You're gonna have to pay for this," Jonah teases, watching him pour the drinks less than halfway and absorbing the sound of his laughter.

"Here." Cyrus hands Jonah the glass less filled, clanking the cups together and giggling along with him.

Cyrus almost laughs up his drink when the first thing Jonah does is sniff his own.

"Doesn't seem appetizing?" He teases, ogling over Jonah comically observing it.

Jonah smiles into the small sip he takes, and by the look on his face Cyrus can tell he doesn't find the taste very appealing.

"You good?" He can't not smile, causing Jonah to do the same.

"Yeah. Kinda my first time drinking this."

"Wanna get away from the music?" Cyrus offers, and they leave the open wine bottle sitting on the counter.

They peek into an empty downstairs bedroom not too far from where they once were, and Jonah forces down a large gulping sip as they walk inside.

"You okay?" Cyrus notices his worry, the door only less than halfway open.

"Yeah, yeah."

"You know you don't have to keep drinking that-"

So he won't. Almost unable to take in how respectable Cyrus has always been, Jonah slams his glass down on dresser, shuts the door, and kisses him harder than before.

Returning the same amount of passion and energy, Cyrus sets down his own cup and is instantly at a loss of breath.

"I think that last sip made you a bit tipsy." He huffs out his words in a smile, letting Jonah pull him closer and kiss him all the way onto the bed.

He's on top of Cyrus this time, and instead of his hums turning into moans, he's pretty sure his breathing is turning into uncontrollable hyperventilation. Like the time before last time.

"Shit." He rolls off of him and onto the comforter, almost struggling to sit up at the edge. He doesn’t understand how he’s gone back to being so afraid.

"It's okay..." Cyrus sits up behind him and touches his shoulder.

"You don't have to make yourself do these things."

His breath stills before slowly but surely returning back to normal, and he throws himself back on Cyrus, but this time for a hug.

"You're _great..."_ He speaks into his shoulder.

" _You're_ great." Cyrus gives his back a few pats, resuming eye contact with his arms remained around him.

"I'm sorry I get like that." Jonah feels the need to apologize, something Cyrus won't approve of.

"Don't be. You're perfectly fine." He strokes Jonah's hair and leans in closer to his ear.

" _I wanna lay with you..._ And wake up next to you..." The warm whisper sends Jonah into a fit of giggles that almost has him falling off the bed; Cyrus laughing along and sitting him back up beside him.

Moments later they decide to walk back out into the living room to make sure Walker's pillowcases haven't been taken, hoping nobody is noticing where they've come from.

Amber is now dancing with TJ and Iris; Marty talking to Buffy and Walker to Andi.

They walk up to the only dancers in the room.

"Hey," Cyrus greets.

"Hey." TJ doesn't stop moving. "Where'd you guys come from?"

"Kitchen," they say together.

"So Marty and Walker are talking to the other girls?" Jonah points over to them.

"Yeah." Iris stands still. "I think they're really hitting it off."

"Oh _god dammit."_ Comes a familiar voice, Amber freezing up when seeing just who it belongs to.

" _Johnny?_ "

"What are you guys doing here, get out!"

"Oh crap." Walker, Buffy, Marty and Andi have taken awkward notice.

"Ex _cuse_ you?! _Don't talk to her like that!"_ TJ commands, boldly walking up to him and giving him a swift punch.

" _Owe!_ " He pulls back his fist and cradles it in his other hand. "Shit, I think I broke it."

" _TJ! Oh my god stop it!"_ Amber yells.

"Would you just _take your boyfriend_ and get out of here?!" Johnny seems to be affected in no way at all.

" _Ew!_ " Amber yells again.

"There is _no way_ we are leaving this house!" TJ declares the exact moment before a Maroon 5 starts to play.

"Guys this is unacceptable we have to get out of here."

"You have _ten seconds_ to leave or I'm turning the song up." Johnny can sense his disgust.

TJ's the first one out of there, waiting for them on the porch and covering his ears to block out the song.

"Ummm...I think we should go before TJ has a breakdown." Cyrus says to Iris and Amber back inside.

 

"Is the song over??" TJ screams when the others all join him on the porch, refusing to remove his hands from over his ears.

Holding one of Walker's pillowcases that were almost forgotten on the way out, Cyrus forces both of TJ's hands down against his sides.

" _Owe!_ Cool it. I think the hand I punched Johnny with might be broken."

"Yeah. ' _Punched.'_ " Cyrus dryly responds.

"Are you guys trick or treating too?" Walker asks, looking directly to Andi.

" _No_ ," she and the other girls giggle.

TJ scoffs at Marty and Walker's embarrassment.

"Well since _you guys_ clearly are, we're gonna get back home. Andi's house is a few streets over." Amber says.

"Really?" Walker's intrigued by this, which makes Marty pinch his arm.

"See you tomorrow." Buffy begins her farewells, starting with Jonah.

"See ya." He hugs each of the girls

"Thanks for trying to stick up for me." Amber says to TJ, who smiles angelically.

"Anytime."

She chuckles. "Sure."

She actually hugs him this time, the others chuckling at his refusal to let go.

Amber shoves him off of her, snickering with the rest of the girls their way into the street.

"Wait. Guys? Where's my mask?" TJ starts feeling all around his face, making everyone else but Jonah roll their eyes.

" _Oh no._ Let's go." Marty drags him off the porch, leaving Cyrus, Walker and Jonah laughing to one another.

"So you like Andi?" Jonah asks Walker, following him and Cyrus over to where Marty and TJ wait for them on the sidewalk.

"Yeah, she's cool." Their walk resumes.

"Marty's pretty into Buffy, if you couldn't tell." TJ smiles.

"At least I didn't break my hand trying to _fight_ for her."

"Oh please your hand is _not_ broken." Cyrus insists to TJ, which makes Jonah giggle.

"It is! And at least I got a hug." TJ glares to Marty.

"That you ruined. Why are you so hung up on her anyway, you do know Iris exists, right?"

"What? That wouldn't be _right!_ Bro code!" TJ offers Cyrus a fist bump.

"TJ, what she and I had was never real. I don't care."

TJ takes out a juul he can now proudly call his own, the others stopping in their tracks and gawking as he takes a long hard hit.

“What _is_ that.” Walker asks when he’s exhaling the vapor into the air.

“It’s a juul.” TJ backs up next to them.

“One of the older kids gave it to me.”

“ _Ew.”_ Marty cringes. “You’re such a poser.”

“I am _not, shut the fuck up!”_

Cyrus and Jonah are in the middle of smiling at each other, that is until a hauntingly familiar voice brings them all to a halt.

"Holy _shit."_

Jonah knows that the _last_ thing he needs right now, is for his night to be interfered by no one other than goddamn Derek staring him down in some copout football uniform.

"Guys let's just keep watching-"

"Do you two-?" TJ starts to ask, when Derek asserts to Jonah “So which one of them is your boyfriend?"

"Oh..." Walker's discomforted by the torment in his tone.

Cyrus was able to pick up on Jonah's negative energy the moment Derek's voice was heard.

"I am. You got a problem with that?" He steps up, aware that this kid is bad news.

"Where'd you meet, shock therapy?"

TJ, Marty and Walker are all scowling at what he's saying, Jonah having to overcome the ridiculing worry.

"Cyrus—"

" _Dude. Fuck off."_ Walker snaps at Derek, who's blocked off by Cyrus when trying to come for him.

"Don't go _near_ any of them, asshole."

"How about you step the fuck _back."_ Derek shoves him, and Jonah pulls Cyrus back to step forward.

"Derek, shut the _fuck up_ and never fucking _touch him."_ He shoves him with almost enough force to send him to the ground.

" _What._ What is he, hyper sensitive-?"

That's when Jonah punches him without a thought.

" _Whoa!_ " TJ screams, looking at the rest and awe as Derek fixes his posture with a hand over his cheek.

"What'd you get in your _pillowcase, steroids?"_

" _If you don't leave then I'll fucking choke you with it!"_

This has Cyrus smile from ear to ear. He rests his chin upon his fist.

" _Get away! Get! Away!"_ Jonah continues shoving him, following him each step of the way and pushing him forward when he turns around.

" _Get the fuck away and never look at me at school again or I'll send you to the fucking ground next time!"_ He shouts, encouraging him to sprint away. He has to act oblivious towards the children and parents around them who are taking notice.

There’s no greater pride than one such as this.

" _Yeah!_ Yeah, that's _right!"_ TJ yells, wanting in on the action.

Marty and Walker glance at him.

" _Dude_. Teach _me_ how to do that!" TJ tells Jonah.

"Is your hand okay??" Cyrus takes the hand of his that hit Derek's face, to which TJ takes offense.

" _Oh_ , so _my_ hand isn't broken but _his_  is?!”

" _Your hand isn't broken TJ you're just a hypochondriac."_ Walker yells to him.

"Look at _you_ go," Cyrus smiles to Jonah, who perks up with rosy cheeks and a big smile.

"Yeah. Must be the wine."

"You guys drank wine?" Marty grins. "What are you, forty?"

"Hey..." Jonah’s approached by three teenage girls who were witnesses to the scene.

"We saw what you did. We thought it was really cool."

"I _know_ , right?" Cyrus turns bitterly sarcastic. "I'm his _boyfriend,_ by the way, if you couldn't hear." He freshly adds, Walker unable to keep himself from snickering.

The girls grimace at Cyrus and charge off, Jonah facing him with a shaking head and disapproving smile.

"Let's _go."_ He wraps his arm around him and keeps them moving.

Jonah holds his hand the rest of the way home. Like how his father would have wanted it.

 

Back at Walker’s house, Walker has his Mom ‘inspect’ Jonah’s hand.

“Looks fine to me.” She observes, sitting back at the kitchen table.

“What about mine?” TJ holds his out.

“TJ that’s the wrong one.” Marty tells him.

“Was it getting too spooky out there?” Walker’s Mom asks, noticing how early they chose to return inside.

“ _No._ ” Walker insists.

“Kinda” TJ admits, being scoffed at and dragged into the living room with their half full pillowcases.

“ _Ew._ I got _candy corn.”_ Marty’s reaching into his pillowcase and pulling out a small bag. TJ and Walker recoil.

“Then give it to _me,_ then!” Cyrus knows they know he likes it, snatching it away from him.

“Ew. Jonah break up with him.” TJ says, making the five of them chortle.

“I’ve never had it.” He shares.

“ _Don’t_ it’s bad for your soul.” Marty commands.

“It’s _good!_ ” Cyrus grins, and Walker says Jonah should get a drink to wash it down with.

“ _Fine._ Oh my _God,_ let’s _go then.”_ As the rest of them are laughing, Cyrus pulls Jonah into the kitchen.

“Thanks for inviting me...” Jonah says to him.

“No problem. They wouldn’t stop bugging me about you.” Cyrus smirks, opening the fridge for a selection of Jonah’s choice.

Jonah chuckles. “Sure.”

“They _were!”_

Walker’s Mom is happily observant.

“What goes good with candy corn.” Jonah teases, guffawing when Cyrus shoves a can of Sprite in his hand.

“Hold it in your warrior hand.”

Jonah scoffs.

“It feeling okay?” Cyrus asks, Jonah yet again repeating a yes.

“I think I should hold it for the rest of the night to make sure.” Cyrus takes the particular hand into his own, Jonah closing the fridge and giggling along with him during the walk out.

When Jonah tries his first piece of candy corn, he’s neutral about the way it tastes.

“I mean, I understand _why_ it isn’t available all year round.” He smiles directly to Cyrus, the rest of the guys’ clamoring giving neither of them a chance to speak.

As an apology, Jonah downs a few more pieces, and even shares his Sprite with him.

Around ten thirty, Jonah’s candy has been transported into a plastic bag, which he carries with him on the way to the car he wasn’t expecting to be driven by his mother. Not only are the twins in the backseat, but Stephen is seated right next to her.

After finally making up his mind, he runs back onto the porch and kisses him without a care in the world.

Sitting in the middle of his awed sisters within the backseat, he relaxingly sighs and rests his arms around the both of them.

“ _Jonah_ , is there something you’d like to tell me?” Valeri scowls at him through the rear view mirror.

“No, not really.”

With the sight of Jonah’s family now staring him down inside the vehicle, all Cyrus can do is watch in purely prideful shock.

Standing along with him right between Walker and Marty, TJ is yet again impressed.

“ _Damn_ Cyrus your boyfriend Jonah is a _fucking badass.”_

There’s no disagreement.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to those who stuck through the whole thing. Please leave your thoughts

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE comment it’s the equivalent to my oxygen


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